For years I’ve been trying to delicately share with folks how the overuse of the exclamation point is seriously becoming an American epidemic of great proportion, yet the non-existence of an explanation mark is a crime when it comes to our language smart-phone syntax “Call me!” sometimes can be the surrender between an actual return phone call and an unintended audial eye roll “Where are you!!”, is simply not a question anymore, but moreover an accusation of something complicit, fantastical or maybe even sinister, depending on who is double exclaiming this question on the other end of your line Is
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Mr. Marc Benioff CEO Salesforce.com The Landmark, One Market Suite 300 San Francisco, CA 94105 Re: Thanks For Being A Stand Up Kind of CEO Dear Mr. Benioff, After a long week of meetings, beers and lunches I found myself in front of my laptop last night looking through my social media pages only to find myself reading an article about you and your company, salesforce.com, and your reaction to the new economic intolerance bill coming out of Indiana Bravo Mr. Benioff, for having the business will, the economic courage and the presence of mind to not only stand up
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Sunsets are the past and the future mixed up all in one When you think one is over and the other is forgotten, then by the breath and grace of each other we are both beautiful by the glow of the sun’s hues And many the sunsets have never lasted, yet they come back different in our next day, is the renewal of our faith and time We love sunsets because they seem like memories of us glimmering away, and yet we know in some way the sunset is saying everything and whispering every time that we will be ok
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Poverty is to humans what litter is to animals; it deteriorates our community’s soul alongside Mother Nature’s spirit, with no regard for class, educational level, or fairness A community which combats both through intentional investment alongside observational financial need not only generates community profit, but more importantly, harnesses good will without the necessity of being beholden to both -Michele Peterson, an entrepreneur
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I was sixteen when I participated in my first abortion.  I have participated in as many as seven abortions over the last thirty years, either physically-directly or emotionally-indirectly. I’ve only actually been to two abortion clinics across Tennessee and Virginia; one was in Bristol, and my other was actually my first health clinic in Knoxville TN.  You see back around nineteen eighty-six a friend of mine came to me with the news that she might be pregnant but she wasn’t sure yet, and could I help her figure out how she’d know, and what on earth was she going to
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“Ms. Peterson, I’m sorry but I can’t talk to you, I’m preparing for an important meeting, therefore I need to let you go “, Barry says back to my assertion that I am “somebody” this morning, “Barry, look, I got it, I know you’re an important guy at an important place during an important time,  but here’s the deal, so am I, so are my friends and so is my family living in my “Chinese drywalled” houses”, I say back to Barry as I pause to catch my breath, “all I want you to understand is this isn’t a competition
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“Buddy?”, JR asks me, as we leave Meggo’s house to head over to my cottage at the Fairyland club, “Yes buddy, what’s up?”, I say back to him, as I turn down my radio, “Why’d you lie about Meg’s dog buddy and when are you gonna tell me about what you found out about the Illumanati?”, JR says back to me with earnest in his voice and a little bit of intellectual shyness, Now about this time in my day, it’s time to have lunch, so I decide to take my buddies to our favorite Mexican restaurant; where the salsa
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“Ms. Peterson, I’m sorry but I can’t talk to you, I’m preparing for an important meeting, therefore I have to let you go “, Barry says back to my assertion that I am “somebody”, “Barry, look,  I got it, I know you’re an important guy at an important place during an important time,  but here’s the deal, so am I, so are my friends and so are my family who own and live in my “Chinese drywalled” houses”, I say back to Barry as I pause to catch my breath, “and all I want you to understand is this isn’t
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“Buddy look, you’re doing that the wrong way, here let me show you”, I grab the clippers out of JR’s left hand and snip the hydrangea bush planted in the side yard at Meggo’s house on Lookout Mountain, TN. “Buddy why’d you snip it at an angle and how’d you know where to snip it at?”, Jr says back to my ponytail head as Im leaning down grunting and huffing, trying to keep my balance in my flower garden, Yard work is for young people, skinny people or short people. Ooh and by the way, so is baseboard cleaning, “I
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“Now Buddy tell me again where you heard about this illumanati business?” I say back to JR, as we go past where I normally turn to go towards my house but I need to keep driving so we can keep talking this morning, “Ok buddy listen, here’s the deal, the Illumanati is this secret society of rich people and they tell us that its ok for men to wear purses and to dress like girls and to have sex with other men. See buddy, Beyonce and Jay-Z belong to the Illumanati now and Michael Jackson belonged to it too buddy,
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